On April 30, 2019, the Japanese emperor, Emperor Akihito, announced to abdicate at the age of 85, and on the next day, May 1, 2019, his son ascended to the throne and became Emperor Naruhito for the new Reiwa era of Japan. Six months later, in November, the enthronement became a national hot topic again as a great celebration of Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement (天皇陛下御即位をお祝いする国民祭典) took place on November 9 in front of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
The event began with an opening-up parade of marching bands and folk performers from all over Japan. In the evening, the ceremonial part during which the Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako appeared began. More than 30,000 people attended the celebration. Besides the attendants who were invited as celebrities and media professionals, there were ten thousand seats open to public participants. According to the organizers, more than 470,000 members of the public had applied online for the 10,000 tickets.
The suite “Ray of Water,” composed specially for the occasion, was performed by an orchestra for the Emperor and Empress. Several top Japanese artists were invited to perform the third movement of the suite, a song wrote for the Emperor. It was featured by the pianist Nobuyuki Tsuji and pop idol group Arashi. The song “Journey to Harmony” sang:
If you smile, the world shines
Someone’s happiness illuminates the present
Our rejoicing will reach you
It’s okay, the birds are singing It’s okay, the sky is glittering
It’s okay, the water is flowing It’s okay, the ocean is shining
It’s okay, we will smile with you It’s okay, we will walk forward with you
The lyrics expressed people’s love and respect to the Emperor as well as the outlook to a peaceful future. Empress Masako was witnessed wiping her tears when the song finished.
The song remained a spotlight for days in Japan; not only because it was sung by the top Japanese idols, but more importantly, it revealed people’s shared expectation to the new era. The current era name “Reiwa (令和)” was derived from Japan’s oldest known poetry anthology “Manyoshu” (万葉集). The original text read as “shoshun no reigetsu ni shite, kiyoku kaze yawaragi,” depicting the harmonic and peaceful image in the early spring. The Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe interpreted Reiwa’s ideology of harmony that “culture is born and grows when people come together and care for each other beautifully.” The new emperor of Reiwa era, Emperor Naruhito, did not merely serve as the symbol and face of Japan; widely loved by his people, he was expected to bring some peaceful time to Japan.
Although for outsiders, era names did not seem to mean as much except to indicate dividing points of Japanese traditional calendar, they actually contributed to many Japanese people’s sense of identity. In Japan, titles such as “Showa Sedai (Showa Generation)” and “Heisei Umare (Born-in-Heisei)” were used to define and distinguish different generations, and people themselves identified with these titles as well. In Natsume Soseki’s novel Kokoro, for example, “my” father tied his identity to the Meiji era so much that he believed Meiji era was part of himself. As a result, when the Meiji era ended, he became seriously sick and finally passed away too. Though people would not go to such extreme in today’s Japanese society, the tradition of holding a sense of connection to their eras was maintained. Reiwa, for many Japanese people, is much more than a simple title. Speaking in the first years of this new era, Reiwa creates a sense of Japanese identity; it serves as a synonym of people’s sincere hope for a peaceful life; it represents a generation’s present and future.
